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The sea urchin Centrostephanus tenuispinus (Clark, 1914) is an important bio-eroder on a high latitude (32° S) coral reef

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Abstract

Sea urchins are keystone herbivores in many marine benthic habitats and can significantly influence coral-algae phase shifts and reef carbonate budgets. Hall Bank Reef in Western Australia is a unique high latitude reef with high hermatypic coral cover but lacking macroalgae and soft corals. Since the reef status is thought to result from grazing of the urchin Centrostephanus tenuispinus, this study was focused on evaluating bio-erosion by C. tenuispinus with respect to size structure and seasonality. Monthly samples of urchins were collected during 2014–2016 and gut composition was analysed. Gut evacuation rates were calculated using urchins dissected at time intervals up to 96 h. Reworked CaCO3 was calculated using caged urchins in a nearby seagrass bed. Mean percentages of organic, CaCO3, and siliceous components in C. tenuispinus gut contents were 86.3 ± 3.2, 10.3 ± 2.8, and 3.4 ± 1.5%, respectively. Gut evacuation rates for autumn, winter, spring, and summer were 0.70, 0.24, 0.48, and 0.72 day −1. Bio-erosion rates were significantly higher in summer (3.5 g CaCO3 m−2 day−1) than in winter (1.3 g CaCO3 m−2 day−1) and higher rates recorded for large urchins. Urchin bio-erosion was 1 kg CaCO3 m−2 annum−1. Variation in food ingestion rates in response to seawater temperature changes was found to be the main driver for differences in seasonal bio-erosion rates, which likely contribute to the absence of macroalgae and the maintenance of high coral cover on Hall Bank Reef. This study provides baseline data on bio-erosion by a sea urchin at Hall Bank Reef, which will be essential in monitoring and managing reefs in this region, especially under current trends in climate change.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is part of Ph.D. study of RMGN Thilakarathna supported by a Murdoch University International Postgraduate Scholarship. Damian Thomson (CSIRO) is gratefully acknowledged for providing water temperature data. Generous support with fieldwork from Steven Goynich, Michael Taylor, Claudia Muller, Ian Dapson, Amy Kirke, Peter Howie, Phillip Good, and Brodee Elsdon is greatly appreciated.

Funding

This work is part of the Ph.D. study of RMGN Thilakarathna supported by a Murdoch University International Postgraduate Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia

    R. M. G. N. Thilakarathna & Mike van Keulen

  2. Department Oceanography and Marine Geology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences and Technology, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka

    R. M. G. N. Thilakarathna

  3. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Research and University of Western Australia Oceans Institute, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, Crawley, WA, Australia

    John K. Keesing

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Contributions

All authors, RMGNT, MvanK and JKK contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by RMGNT under the supervision of MvanK and JKK. The first draft of the manuscript was written by RMGNT, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. M. G. N. Thilakarathna.

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No approval of research ethics committees was required to accomplish the goals of this study because experimental work was conducted with an unregulated invertebrate species.

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Thilakarathna, R.M.G.N., van Keulen, M. & Keesing, J.K. The sea urchin Centrostephanus tenuispinus (Clark, 1914) is an important bio-eroder on a high latitude (32° S) coral reef. Mar Biol 169, 86 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04070-7

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